In the NBA, reputations are made and broken in the playoffs — but that is like a different season completely. The NBA gives out its awards based on the regular season. And this season a couple awards are obvious, but a couple could go a lot of different directions.

Here are PBT’s awards for the season (for the record I do not have an official vote).

Out of the 123 media votes for MVP somebody is going to pick Kevin Durant, and I can’t wait to hear their explanation. Because as much as someone might be tired of voting for LeBron James, he took his game to another level this season — 26.8 points game on a career best 56.5 percent shooting, he hit 40 percent of his threes, chipped in 8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. He is the Heat’s best defender, best playmaker (he improved in that area), best post player (allowing them to play small), and go-to scorer — he is clearly the best all around player in the game, leading the team with the best regular season record. He has matured in Miami after leaving home in Cleveland and his game has flourished in a way that we are left trying to compare him and his legacy to stars of era’s past. Because we are in his era.

Even up to the start of the final weeks of the season, I was thinking I would pick the Clippers super-sub Jamal Crawford here. And if I had to pick one of these guys to create and take the last shot of the game for me, I’d go Crawford. But Smith swung me over to his side with his play down the stretch, particularly when Carmelo Anthony was out — in his last 15 games (before the Wednesday season finale) Smith averaged 23.7 points a game on 50.6 percent shooting, with 6.5 rebounds a game. He can create his own shot, takes and makes difficult shots (not always a good thing but he makes it work), he gets to the rim when he wants, and he provides that scoring spark off the bench the Knicks need. Plus, he provides a little — just a little — more defense than Crawford. It also helps that Smith did his best work down the stretch this season, Crawford was doing his back in December when the Clippers looked like a contender, but they have fallen off sense then.

This was the other easy call — Lillard should run away with the voting and deservedly so. If you made me pick what rookie I would want on my roster three years from now other guys would leapfrog Lillard (Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond in particular) but Lillard, after four years in college, came into the NBA better ready to make an immediate impact. Plus he landed in the perfect place to do it, a team that had LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and other talented players looking for a point guard to run the show. Lillard did that showing he could run the pick-and-roll and create shots for himself or others. Lillard averaged 19.1 points and 6.5 assists a game. Lillard also was durable — he is second in the NBA in minutes played, behind only Kevin Durant, and that durability helped separate him from his fellow rookies.

This is the most difficult call of the postseason awards because you can make a legit case for a lot of guys. Coaches such as Mark Jackson and Mike Woodson are not on my list but if you picked them for Coach of the Year it would be a legitimate call. But I’m going with George Karl because he built a young team not driven by a ball-dominating star — Carmelo Anthony went East and the Nuggets have become a very different kind of team. They run, they share the ball, they don’t settle for jumpers (they led the NBA in points in the paint, 57.7 per game), and the Nuggets made a jump in defense this season to be a top-10 team (adding Andre Iguodala on the wing had something to do with that). Karl has done it by developing the players he had and fitting them in a system that highlights all of them. For all of that he deserves the hardware.

Often this award can go to the flashy, shot blocking defender — your Serge Ibaka, your Roy Hibbert — but I want to give it to the best all-around center in the game. Marc Gasol isn’t demonstrative like Kevin Garnett — he doesn’t get in the face of smaller guards — but he does choreograph the Grizzlies defense just like KG did for the Celtics. He does protect the back line (he averages 1.7 blocks a game, 12th best in the NBA) but he just seems to always be in the right place at the right time contesting shots. He reads the game and anticipates it as a big man as we have seen in a while. Memphis had the second best defense in the NBA this season and Gasol was the anchor of it, the big man who always made the right play. He deserves this award.

Come on, at least a little love Thibs as coach of the year. 181 games missed due to injury this year and he’s got his team in the playoffs as the 5th seed. The Bulls played 25 games this year with their preferred starting lineup, and that’s counting Hinrich as the starting point guard. He’s gotten solid contributions from Nazr Mohammed, he’s turned Jimmy Butler into a starting caliber 2 guard, he’s gotten career years out of Bellinelli and Robinson, all while missing their best player.

Where is this notion that Lebron is a great defender coming from? One of the best defenders in the game is on his team Dwayne Wade. He always leads the league in blocks from the guard position, always near the top in steals, and the he checks on a nightly basis rarely scores more than 25. Why is he never is the talks for defensive player?

I agree with you. I think the Lebron is a great defender meme is ridiculous. He’s a good defender but he’s not elite as Wade used to be. Just because you can guard a 6’3″ point guard doesn’t mean you’re elite. Kobe has guarded BJennings, Westbrook, and Kyrie and made them look bad. It doesn’t mean Kobe is an elite defender right now. He’s 6’6″-6’7″ and has good footwork so he’s going to have an advantage in height. Lebron guards Durant often but it’s unclear to me Durant’s ever been bothered by Lebron. So Lebron can body up some bigs. He’s 6’9″ and 270 pounds. He’s heavier than most bigs. Good for him. To me, the elite defenders are a different class: M Gasol, DHoward now, Tony Allen, Thano, CPaul, Iguodala, Noah, Tyson Chandler. These guys guard their positions incredibly well and change the game. As good a player as he is, Lebron isn’t in that category. Kobe used to be (just ask Barbosa) and occasionally still can (just ask Jennings), but not anymore. Wade and Kidd used to be, but Kidd’s not a kid anymore. See what I just did there?

I am a Lebron “hater” but even I can admit that Lebron is a great, great defensive player. Do you realize how valuable and rare a guy that can guard all five positions is? He’d be an all star based on his defense alone

Do you watch the game or just read the box scores. Lebron is the best transitional defender in the NBA and is lock down in the 4th. He owned Durant in last years finals and his defense was just as important as his offense during the streak, be a better heat fan.

Dwyane wade is an overrated defender. Sure, he’s a great playmaker, but I don’t think he’s elite when it comes to shutting down his man. That being said, Lebron is the best defender in the league, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m glad Kurt gave him recognition on this post, because I think it’s bs that just because Lebron is the MVP he can’t get defensive player of the year.

The writer just mentioned that the flashy numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Steals, even more than blocks, is a misleading defensive stat.

If you’ve ever seen Lebron play defense, it’s pretty remarkable. He doesn’t have the same lateral quickness as some other good defenders, but he is so long and athletic that he’s probably the best in the game at recovering on drivers or shooters once he’s initially beaten.
That’s what makes him so tough to go up against…even if you beat him off the dribble, he’s still going to contest your shot without fouling you. There’s no one else in the league like that.

And he can guard all 5 positions on the floor. Whenever an opposing player is hot (in a close game down the stretch), Lebron usually switches onto him regardless of the position and shuts him down.

Lebron also turns defense into offense better than any player in the league.

But I agree with the writer…Gasol deserves this b/c his team is the best defensive team in the NBA.

Battier is a better defender than James. More sound, plays with leverage and contests without fouling. Unlike James, who gets fooled by exquisite footwork (which is why Kobe and Melo always son him) Battier isn’t. And I HATE Battier and like James, but you stans are on a whole ‘nother level.

My award for Pundit Moron of the Year goes to Kurt Helin for his constant stream of ignorant nonsense. Only the most idiotic fool would have not included Kobe in his top 5 picks for MVP and only a moron like Kurt wouldn’t consider Kobe’s performance this year as proof that Kobe deserves the MVP more than any other player. Kobe gave everything of himself this year, he single handedly forced the Lakers to as many wins as they got and a possible playoff spot.

Kobe has been jobbed too many times by moronic pundits like Kurt Helin for the MVP and he deserves some restitution for past slights. I will san that Kurt had heavy competition from that Posnanski moron who thinks that gambling cheater Pete Rose belongs in the baseball Hall of Shame.

It’s sad because people who never watched kobe will look back on his career and see only one MVP and not fully understand how good he really was. The main reason he only has one is that when he was in his prime, he was playing with chris mihm, brian cook, smush parker, luke walton, etc…And what’s amazing is he still made the playoffs and almost beat a very good suns team.

If you look at the oscars, they are judged by a group of experts that always seem to get the awards right. Why can’t the NBA media truly understand the game and not be swayed so much by team records and stats? It’s trickling down to the fan base and making us all dumber.

Team record? Seems like a terrible way to judge a player. The fact of the matter is that Kobe led a team that woefully underachieved this year. When your team is predicted to make the finals this year by everyone and their brother and after 81 games its not clear that you’ll make the playoffs, you don’t deserve to win the MVP.

ok pudgalvin so i take it you didn’t watch any laker games this year. who cares what was predicted, I watched every game and saw what actually happened. I’m not even saying kobe should win it this year, read my post.

808raiderinparadise - Apr 17, 2013 at 5:36 PM

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Do you really want to say that? Why don’t you look at LeBron’s MVP in Cleveland, with Andersen Varejao and some hefty scrubs.

Kobe has never made a player around him better, LeBron breeds it with this understanding of moving the ball to score….. why do think the Lakers roster changed over the years???? to cater to Kobe.

Why doesn’t Nash work in LA? Well because Kobe DEMANDS THE BALL, DEMANDS TOUCHES therefore Nash has ultimately become a shooting guard, which he is not, therefore Kobe takes away from Nash’s talents.

Kobe is far and away one of the best scorers and offensive players EVER, competitior, and closer …. but MVP? Teamate? All-around? Passer lol? he doesn’t even sniff the greats outside of offense, and the offense goes through him, always.

This 808raider clown is a sad, sad character. Where was he when Kobe was dishing out multiple games of 10+ assists? That no-passing joke became stale before Shaq even left LA. Why are people still trying to pull it a full DECADE later?

And people suddenly and conveniently forget that Nash missed 2/3 of the season, Dwight wasn’t right for half of the season, Kobe has had his best statistical season of his career, Blake missed 2 1/2 months, Hill has been out all year, they have the dumbest coach in the league and Gasol missed long stretches twice.

People are acting like they were healthy all year and only won 45 games. They would have easily won 60-65 if they had all been healthy the entire season and had Phil — which Mitch was closing on before Jerry Krause 2.0 torpedoed the deal and brought in Pringles.

Well, if we had a different coach and our players weren’t old as dirt and if Gasol could stop whining about his role for 2 minutes and Howard wasn’t a child we’d be the best team in the league. James harden had an almost identical year to Kobe and no one is screaming about him being the MVP. Kobe had a nice year on a team that, if they make the playoffs, will be eliminated in the first round. Lebron, Durante, Paul and Duncan don’t have the same problem.

NBA awards are pretty stupid in my opinion. Why is there a defensive player of the year and not an offensive player of the year? A lot of the time they just give the offensive player of the year the MVP award, and it makes us fans think that offense is more important than defense. It would be good if we could give lebron both the MVP and defensive player of the year, so people understand the importance of defense, and that the best players can also be the best defenders. It will also make it clear why Durant is not close to MVP status and it’s ridiculous people put him in the conversation. But we could give Durant offensive player of the year for his ridiculously efficient offensive season.

They do have an offensive player of the year – they just call it the scoring title and it has about as much meaning as any of these other awards (with the exception of MVP … and to a lesser extent, rookie of the year).

well if it’s the scoring title then that’s also stupid, because it makes people think the best offensive players are the same as the best scorers, and it takes away from guys like chris paul who are impossible to stop and make their offense better, but don’t score that much.

Maybe they should have an award for the highest PER since it takes into consideration the all-around game. But that would go to LeBron every year. I hear what you’re saying but what’s the answer? Although, Steve Nash won the MVP two years in a row…similar game as Chris Paul.

I despise the Heat for the way they came together. That said, Lebron is the MVP! However Helin, if you think Melo won’t get any first place votes you’re crazy! Lebron still has Wade and Bosh. The Knicks are no way, shape or form this good without Melo! He will get some love in the voting!
Go Bulls!!

No doubt LeBron is the best all around player & athlete in the league. However, if you take him off the Heat, they still make the playoffs. If you take Durant or Anthony off their teams, they are a lottery team. Especially since OKC lost Harden & Amare wasn’t around most of the season. The award is for Most Valuable Player, not best player.

A lottery team? So those 2 teams would be in the bottom half of the league? That sounds complete asinine. That was only said to make LeBron seem less important. Get over it. CLEVELAND THE CITY OF LOSERS.

So a team with Wade & Bosh couldn’t make it to the playoffs in the East? Come on! What does this have to do with Cleveland?

miamatt - Apr 17, 2013 at 12:55 PM

CB13 does have a point that the Heat sans LeBron would fare better than the Knicks or OKC sans their respective best players. OKC wouldn’t be lottery bound- more a 6-7-8 seed- but the Knicks might be.

It is also true that the MVP award is dubiously defined- it typically comes down to the best player on the best team versus the best player in the league. In this case that is LBJ on both counts, though “most outstanding player” would be just as apt a description. Still, LeBron IS what makes Miami *potentially* a special, special team. He allows Miami to absolutely maximize their strengths (tremendous depth at the wings, 3 point shooting, and suffocating perimiter defense). From that perspective he is the MVP, though Anthony had probably the best season of his career at a time his team desperately needed it.

Again, logic is too much for these guys. I don’t even waste my time, so I jest around knowing they will take the bait with most of what I post (when I’m not speaking substantiated facts). “Best” and “Most Valuable” are not interchangeable.

If anything, this only backs up the assertion held by those who criticized James for colluding with Bosh to join Wade in Miami. He is critical to them winning a title (they would still be a very good contender who could get hot and win one without him), but Anthony is far more valuable to his team’s success than James is to Miami, and Durant or Westbrook (one or the other, not both removed) to Oklahoma City.

It’s not that difficult to quantify. JR, as much as I love the guy pause, is not carrying the Knicks anywhere for more than a few games at a time.

For the record, there is no official NBA definition of most valuable. Voters can decide how to interpret that however they choose.

mornelithe - Apr 17, 2013 at 10:15 AM

Let me caveat this with: I really don’t care about the awards. They’re nice and all, but I have no vested interest in it.

That having been said, I question people’s definition of MVP, and it seems basically like it’s not actually about Most Valuable Player to a team, it’s the best all around player in the league (which Lebron is, undoubtedly). He isn’t the crux of the Heat’s success however, as is noted by their ability to win convincingly without him.

So what does MVP mean? Really? I’m not trying to discount his ability, I’m not hating on the guy, I’m simply questioning the current definition of MVP, as being discussed in this article, and how people vote. The Heat would be a playoff team without Lebron, and there are other teams who wouldn’t be if they didn’t have their star player. So, what does MVP truly stand for? Is it best all-around player, or….is it the player who has the greatest impact on their team?

Either way, he’s an amazing athlete, I just think they either need to clarify what MVP is, or create a new award that more appropriately fits what Lebron brings to the NBA.

MVP is Most Valuable Player. In the league right now, who is it? (ILL WAIT)……LeBron. That’s all that matters, its the most VALUED player in the league. That’s why its “MVP of the League” not “MVP of a team that only had one good player and if that team didn’t have anyone they wouldn’t be anywhere”.

Okay here you go: Most – greatest in quantity, extent or degree (Lebron hands down fast, tall, strong, jumps out the gym), Valuable – of great use or service (Lebron can play and defend any position on the court 1-5. Durant can play either the 1, 2, or 3 but he can only defend 2’s and 3’s. Carmelo point blank is just the best scorer in the NBA.) Player – a person who plays a game (Any NBA player… Lebron). I’m not a Heat fan, if the Pelicans aren’t in the playoffs I can care less who win. But I do watch and understand basketball and Lebron is the MVP of the league hands down. I agree the Heat would be a playoff team without him (not a 66-16 playoff team six games shy of the 95-96 Bulls) but not a championship team (which they will win again). Who starts training camp with a goal of making the playoffs?

Most of you guys don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. The DPOY is so lopsidedly PF-C centric, it’s ridiculous. Name the last true guard to win DPOY? Anyone? Didn’t think so. The DPOY award is meaningless. I think it exists so people can argue about it. Nice going nba. The NBA MVP is also meaningless. It’s clearly not who the best player is, otherwise Jordan would’ve won 9-10 and not just 5. It’s clearly not who the most valued on a team is, otherwise Steve Nash should have 5-6 MVPs. Nash has been responsible for more big contracts for teammates than anyone I can remember going back to 1981. Amare, Shawn Marion, JoJo, Diaw, QRichardson, Barbosa, Bell, James Jones, Eddie House, the list is long. Every one of these guys made rich careers for themselves because Nash made them look so good. None of them has been as good since they left Phoenix-Nash. And what the he11 is this “most valued”? Kobe is the most valued. He makes the most. MVP doesn’t have to do with dominance or stats. Frankly, the recipe and how people vote are so strange it’s hard to understand year by year. But I will echo what someone said earlier — if you’re assessing who has been most valuable to a team, with incredible numbers, doing everything in his power to help his team win, Kobe Bryant should be MVP. Without him, the Lakers don’t come close to sniffing the 8th spot. He’s had to change his game (become a 1guard for long stretches). Honestly, put the biases aside. Hasn’t Kobe done more and been more valuable to his team than anyone else. I haven’t even talked about injuries and adjustments to personnel.

You’re preaching to people who are in need of lobotomies. Don’t waste your time. I speak facts (when I’m not joking around and the sarcasm is lost on the LeBron worshipers) and somehow I’m the one who’s looney. I see what you’re saying, but those smegma-brained idiots that mostly comprise this site’s commenting section won’t hear it.

Nobody talks about Mark Jackson as coach of the year. What his done with that team in only his second year, took them from making the playoffs to being a team to watch in the West is amazing. Yes Curry is shooting the lights out this season but Jackson is getting some amazing play outta all these young guys and rejects. That deserves a knod for coach of the year at least.

They tailed off after the All-Star Break. They could have finished as highly as the 2 seed without that massive slide. That killed his candidacy, especially when guys like Karl and Woody are making the most out of not having a superstar (the former) and tons of chaos, ridiculous numbers of games played lost due to injury, constant roster turnover, etc. (the latter).

Funny how the same people who used to whine on message boards about the Lakers “robbing” the Grizzlies in the Gasol for (eventually) Gasol trade are the same LeBron worshipers who try to denigrate the efforts of Bryant and Anthony to make points for James SMH.